Published: Sunday, January 20, 2013 at 5:21 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, January 20, 2013 at 5:21 p.m.

There will be a speech, a parade and a ball. There will be a hand on a Bible and an oath of office. There will be four more years of a presidency.

And in the middle of it all, there will be Kaitlyn Hankard.

Hankard, a seventh-grader at Topsail Middle School, was chosen from students across the country to attend the Middle School Presidential Inaugural Conference. She's one of 800 middle schoolers who will be watching President Barack Obama's speech from the National Mall, debating political issues with her fellow attendees and attending the middle-school version of the inaugural ball.

It won't be the first time Kaitlyn has attended a national leadership conference in Washington, D.C. Her fifth-grade teacher nominated her for the Junior National Young Leaders Conference, a weeklong event that gets students talking about what it means to be a leader. Several students from that conference were selected to attend the inauguration, including Kaitlyn.

Students picked to attend the inaugural conference were ones who had "done well" at the other events, Kaitlyn said, her humility intact. But Topsail Middle Principal James Klingensmith makes up for Kaitlyn's modesty. He can't come up with enough adjectives to describe her, calling her an excellent and outstanding student.

Kaitlyn's past experiences in the nation's capital haven't swayed her toward a career in politics, she said, noting that she's thought about being a teacher. But they have given her a leg up in her social studies classes, helping her to better understand how the federal government works. Her inaugural weekend is providing a refresher course in that.

"We're going to get to hear from some guest speakers, like (former President George W. Bush's) daughters, and do activities about leadership and learn about the role of the president," she said.

Kaitlyn is looking forward to all that, she said. But when she's asked what she thinks the most exciting part of the inauguration will be, she keeps it simple: just going.

"Just me being able to witness it," she said, "I think that by itself is really neat."

<p>There will be a speech, a parade and a ball. There will be a hand on a Bible and an oath of office. There will be four more years of a presidency.</p><p>And in the middle of it all, there will be Kaitlyn Hankard.</p><p>Hankard, a seventh-grader at Topsail Middle School, was chosen from students across the country to attend the Middle School Presidential Inaugural Conference. She's one of 800 middle schoolers who will be watching President Barack Obama's speech from the National Mall, debating political issues with her fellow attendees and attending the middle-school version of the inaugural ball. </p><p>It won't be the first time Kaitlyn has attended a national leadership conference in Washington, D.C. Her fifth-grade teacher nominated her for the Junior National Young Leaders Conference, a weeklong event that gets students talking about what it means to be a leader. Several students from that conference were selected to attend the inauguration, including Kaitlyn. </p><p>Students picked to attend the inaugural conference were ones who had "done well" at the other events, Kaitlyn said, her humility intact. But Topsail Middle Principal James Klingensmith makes up for Kaitlyn's modesty. He can't come up with enough adjectives to describe her, calling her an excellent and outstanding student. </p><p>Kaitlyn's past experiences in the nation's capital haven't swayed her toward a career in politics, she said, noting that she's thought about being a teacher. But they have given her a leg up in her social studies classes, helping her to better understand how the federal government works. Her inaugural weekend is providing a refresher course in that. </p><p>"We're going to get to hear from some guest speakers, like (former President George W. Bush's) daughters, and do activities about leadership and learn about the role of the president," she said. </p><p>Kaitlyn is looking forward to all that, she said. But when she's asked what she thinks the most exciting part of the inauguration will be, she keeps it simple: just going.</p><p>"Just me being able to witness it," she said, "I think that by itself is really neat."</p><p>Pressley Baird: 343-2328</p><p>On <a href="http://www.starnewsonline.com/section/news41"><b>Twitter</b></a>: @PressleyBaird</p>